Hatchet vs Inngest (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Inngest grades higher than Hatchet: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Hatchet grades higher on value for money. Inngest grades higher on features and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Hatchet
Open-source task queue and durable workflow engine
Inngest
Durable execution for background jobs, event-driven apps and agents
Which one is for you
Pick Hatchet if
- Fits if you're replacing a queue like Celery with durable workflows
- Works for engineers who want to start free and self-host later
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you don't write code, as tasks are defined in an SDK
- Tight if you won't add a card, because the free tier is 2,000 runs a day with 1-day retention
- Watch out: on the free tier, new tasks are dropped past the limit
- Watch out: failed runs count as runs, and SSO and audit logs need Custom
Pick Inngest if
- Fits if you are a developer who needs reliable background jobs
- Works for a small team that can stay inside 50k executions
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you do not write code, as there is no drag-and-drop builder
- Tight if you stay free: 5 concurrent steps and 24 hours of traces
- Watch out: Pro and Business bill extra executions, steps, workers and span data
- Watch out: HIPAA is an add-on on Pro and Business, and sandboxes in open beta are billed per second
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAHatchetFair | 2.4GPAInngestFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BStarts at $0, then $30 per million runs and $5 per million events, with 1 million of each free a month when a card is on file. | CPro is $99 a month for 15 seats, which is about $20 a head for five people, near the middle of automation ($19). Extra executions cost $50 per 1M. |
| Free plan and trial | BWith a card on file: 1M runs and 1M events a month free. Without one, 2,000 runs and events a day and 1 day of retention. | BFree plan with no card: 5 seats, 50k executions, 500k events a month and 24 hours of traces. One small project can live on it. |
| Features | CTask queues and workflows. SSO, RBAC, audit logs and a HIPAA BAA are listed only on Custom. | BDurable step functions, queues, events, observability and AI agent tooling. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core work. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. You write the tasks in code and run workers. | DWorkflows are written in code with an SDK, so it needs a developer. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb dashboard only, and no integrations list on the listing. | BWeb service with open-source SDKs and a Datadog integration. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | background task queues for engineering teams | background jobs written in code |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Hatchet and Inngest. How we grade
Where they differ
- Hatchet is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Hatchet also covers job scheduling.
At a glance
| Hatchet | Inngest | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $0, then $30 per million runs and $5 per million events | $99 per month (Pro), billing basis not stated |
| Free plan | Pay-as-you-go: 1M runs and 1M events free every month, 100 workers, 10 tenants and 50 users with a card on file. | 5 seats, 50k executions, 5 concurrent steps and 500k events a month, with 24 hours of trace history. No credit card required. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Hatchet Technologies, Inc. | Inngest Inc. |
| Price read from | hatchet.run | inngest.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Hatchet
- Without a card on file the free tier is limited to 2,000 task runs and 2,000 events a day, with 1-day retention.
- If a limit is passed on the free tier, new tasks are dropped and creation errors appear.
- Retries are not billed, but failed runs count as runs.
- SSO, RBAC, audit logs and HIPAA BAA are listed only on the Custom plan.
Inngest
- Workflows are written in code using an SDK; there is no drag-and-drop builder.
- Pro and Business prices are shown as a base with usage on top: extra executions, concurrent steps, workers and span data are billed beyond the included amounts.
- HIPAA support is an add-on on Pro and Business, and included only on Enterprise.
- Sandboxes are in open beta and are billed per second: $0.000011 for a vCPU and $0.000003 for 1 GB of memory.
Key features
Hatchet
- Durable execution
- Workflows and agents are checkpointed so work resumes after a failure. A failed task can be retried automatically or replayed by hand.
- Background tasks and cron
- Runs background jobs at scale and creates dynamic cron schedules for recurring workflows.
- Webhooks and events
- Events and webhooks can trigger workflows, and events can satisfy wait conditions inside a running workflow.
- Observability
- Traces, logs, metrics and alerts are available for each run, with 7 days of retention on the paid-card pay-as-you-go tier.
- Self-hosting
- The pricing page says Hatchet is 100% open source under the MIT license, and the Custom plan covers self-hosted and hybrid setups.
Inngest
- Durable step functions
- Functions are split into steps that are retried and resumed on failure. A single run can last up to 30 days on Free, 90 on Pro and 366 on Business, including sleeps and waits.
- Queues and flow control
- Concurrency and queue depth are managed for you. Concurrent steps start at 5 on Free and 100 on Pro, with more sold in packs of 25 for $25.
- Events and webhooks
- Functions start from events sent from your app or other sources. Free allows 500k events a month and 256 KiB per event; paid plans allow 3 MiB.
- Observability
- Every function run is traced, with metrics and span data. Trace history is 24 hours on Free, 7 days on Pro, 14 days on Business and 90 days on Enterprise.
- AI agents and sandboxes
- Inngest has an AgentKit project and a sandbox product, in open beta, billed per second for vCPU and memory. Agent evaluation scores are metered by plan.
- Open source SDKs
- The server and SDKs for TypeScript, Python, Go and Kotlin are published on GitHub, and you can develop locally before moving to Cloud.
Plans
Hatchet
Pay-as-you-go$0
to start, then usage-based
1M runs and 1M events free each month, then $30 per million runs, $5 per million events and $0.10 per GB of durable streams.
CustomCustom
For 100M+ runs a month: dedicated capacity, SSO, RBAC, audit logs, HIPAA, SLAs, and self-hosted or BYOC support.
Inngest
Free$0
5 seats, 50k executions, 5 concurrent steps, 3 workers and 500k events a month, with 24 hours of trace history.
Pro$99
per month and up, includes 1M executions
15 seats ($10 per extra), 100 concurrent steps, 20 workers, 5M+ events and 7 days of traces. Extra executions $50 per 1M.
Business$499
per month and up, includes 10M executions
30 seats ($10 per extra), 500 concurrent steps, 100 workers, 50M+ events and 14 days of traces. Extra executions $25 per 1M.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom limits, 90 days of trace history, SAML, RBAC, audit trails, HIPAA included and a dedicated Slack channel.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Hatchet or Inngest?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Hatchet starts at $0, then $30 per million runs and $5 per million events, and Inngest starts at $99 per month (Pro), billing basis not stated.
Which has a free plan, Hatchet or Inngest?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Hatchet and Inngest have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.